This small imperial yellow cloisonné* covered container has a mushroom-shaped knob, a short neck and a cylindrical body which tapers to a short copper cast footring. The edges of the knob, the cover and the mouth are un-enameled, exposing the copper cast.

Both the cover and the container are illustrated with colorful enameled decorations in gilt outlines. A single rosette flower adorns the top of the knob whose short stem is enameled in bright blue. The body of the cover is primarily decorated with pink lotus scrolls surrounded by red lingzhi fungus and green leaves against the supplemental man cao wen (coiling vine and leaves design) in various colors. The lotus is a symbol of purity and integrity. It is also one of the eight precious Buddhist things. The lotus comes out of the mud but remains itself unstained. It is inwardly empty yet outwardly upright. It has no branches (no family/offspring) yet smells sweet. The Lingzhi fungus is an ingredient of the elixir of immortality and thus, a symbol of longevity. It resembles the ruyi (as you wish) scepter, or wish-fulfilling wand, popular in later Ming and early Qing art. The top of the cover is adorned with a band of bright blue cloud collars, and the bottom with a band of semi-circular rings. The short neck of the container has a band of rings on a bright blue background. Around the shoulders is a band of bright blue cloud collars. The cylindrical body, as the cover, is ornamented with pink lotus scrolls surrounded by red fungi as a primary motif, and the man cao wen as a supplemental motif in many colors. A band of bright blue stylized lotus petals is depicted on the bottom. The interior of this container is enameled in dark blue.

The lotus scrolls surrounded by fungi resemble more or less the designs on a Tibetan-style ewer for ablutions dated to the Qianlong reign in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (p.295 cat. 612, from He Li, Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996)). It is highly likely that this recent cloisonné covered cylindrical container is after the Tibetan-style model made during the High-Qing period.

* Cloisonné is an enamel ware, in which the colors of the design are kept apart by thin metal strips. It is typically called the "Blue of Jingtai" as blue is the dominant color adopted for enameling and cloisonné became prevalent during the reign of Jingtai (1450--1456) in the Ming Dynasty. Major work processes include: making the red-copper roughcast, forming patterns on the roughcast with thin copper strips, filling patterns with enamel of different colors, firing, and polishing. The making of cloisonné integrates bronze and porcelain-working skills, traditional painting and etching. It is the pinnacle of traditional Chinese handicraft. The making of cloisonné requires rather elaborate and complicated processes: base-hammering, copper-strip inlay, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, polishing and gilding.

Beijing is where cloisonné making originated. The earliest extant cloisonné was made in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The best was made during the Xuande period (1426-1456) of the Ming dynasty. During the Jingtai period (1426-1456) of the Ming, handicraftsmen found dark-blue enamel which gave cloisonné the gorgeous, solemn look which is still used today. During the Qianlong period (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty, the skills of making cloisonné reached their pinnacle when pure copper began to be used for rough casts.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the most famous workshops which produced cloisonné were called the "folangqian kiln" (the cloisonné kiln), also known as the "guiguo kiln" (kiln in the devil's country).